Furries. At first a remote subset of a remote subset of kink. Then A spot on CSI. Then an article in Vanity Fair. Growing and ever-present.

Sam and I had talked about them and seen them around, and thought they were fascinating. The first time furries really crossed into our realm was about a year and a half ago when Sam and I started fastening our keys with carabiners to our respective left (top) and right (bottom) belt loops… one of the many subtle but effective cues developed by an archaic gay underground. It’s easy to remember – the bottom is always right, period (just ask one) – and it definitely applies to hankies mostly but it CAN also apply to piercings, tattoos, arm bands, bracelets, and even watches.

So, Sam found a photo online of a furry – a blue fox – with a sly-to-prurient smirk, a leather vest, jeans and suspenders, and big blue furry feet and hands, looking much like a character from a video game. Then we noticed that he had his keys hung with a carabiner on the left belt loop of his pants, and we said simultaneously, “OMG he’s a top.” So much sexual information all at once, hiding in plain sight.

Most recently at WonderCon in San Francisco, we saw someone in an attractive silver fox fursuit and overalls. We didn’t get wood, but we were a little more transfixed than usual. Sam took a picture, and I had all I could do not to sit down next to him for a photo. In fact, if there hadn’t been kids queuing to have a photo with the fox, I would have, and probably given him a “skritch” – that’s what furries call a friendly back scratch or belly rub, a common display of affection between furries.

And of course it goes farther than the skritch. There’s sex involved, and so we’re curious. It’s called “Yiffing” and I’m checking it out. Stay tuned.

Honestly, the kink (while undoubtedly long-lasting) did not come first. It was the artwork – the comics born out of “funny animal” fandom – that got it going. To start with (in the mid-1980s), “furry” was an artistic community. The costumes and conventions all came later, when the artists started attracting fans.